How to implement HTTP sink correctly?

I want to send calculation results of my DataStream flow to other service over HTTP protocol. I see two possible ways how to implement it:

1. Use synchronous Apache HttpClient client in sink

public class SyncHttpSink extends RichSinkFunction<SessionItem> {
    private static final String URL = "http://httpbin.org/post";

    private CloseableHttpClient httpClient;

    private Histogram httpStatusesAccumulator;

    @Override
    public void open(Configuration parameters) throws Exception {
        httpClient = HttpClients.custom()
            .setKeepAliveStrategy(DefaultConnectionKeepAliveStrategy.INSTANCE)
            .build();

        httpStatusesAccumulator = getRuntimeContext().getHistogram("http_statuses");
    }

    @Override
    public void close() throws Exception {
        httpClient.close();

        httpStatusesAccumulator.resetLocal();
    }

    @Override
    public void invoke(SessionItem value) throws Exception {
        List<NameValuePair> params = new ArrayList<>();
        params.add(new BasicNameValuePair("session_uid", value.getSessionUid()));
        params.add(new BasicNameValuePair("traffic", String.valueOf(value.getTraffic())));
        params.add(new BasicNameValuePair("duration", String.valueOf(value.getDuration())));

        UrlEncodedFormEntity entity = new UrlEncodedFormEntity(params, Consts.UTF_8);

        HttpPost httpPost = new HttpPost(URL);
        httpPost.setEntity(entity);

        try(CloseableHttpResponse response = httpClient.execute(httpPost)) {
            int httpStatusCode = response.getStatusLine().getStatusCode();

            httpStatusesAccumulator.add(httpStatusCode);
        }
    }
}

1. Use asynchronous Apache HttpAsyncClient client in sink

public class AsyncHttpSink extends RichSinkFunction<SessionItem> {
    private static final String URL = "http://httpbin.org/post";

    private CloseableHttpAsyncClient httpClient;

    private Histogram httpStatusesAccumulator;

    @Override
    public void open(Configuration parameters) throws Exception {
        httpClient = HttpAsyncClients.custom()
                .setKeepAliveStrategy(DefaultConnectionKeepAliveStrategy.INSTANCE)
                .build();
        httpClient.start();

        httpStatusesAccumulator = getRuntimeContext().getHistogram("http_statuses");
    }

    @Override
    public void close() throws Exception {
        httpClient.close();

        httpStatusesAccumulator.resetLocal();
    }

    @Override
    public void invoke(SessionItem value) throws Exception {
        List<NameValuePair> params = new ArrayList<>();
        params.add(new BasicNameValuePair("session_uid", value.getSessionUid()));
        params.add(new BasicNameValuePair("traffic", String.valueOf(value.getTraffic())));
        params.add(new BasicNameValuePair("duration", String.valueOf(value.getDuration())));

        UrlEncodedFormEntity entity = new UrlEncodedFormEntity(params, Consts.UTF_8);

        HttpPost httpPost = new HttpPost(URL);
        httpPost.setEntity(entity);

        httpClient.execute(httpPost, new FutureCallback<HttpResponse>() {
            @Override
            public void completed(HttpResponse response) {
                int httpStatusCode = response.getStatusLine().getStatusCode();

                httpStatusesAccumulator.add(httpStatusCode);
            }

            @Override
            public void failed(Exception ex) {
                httpStatusesAccumulator.add(-1); // -1 - failed
            }

            @Override
            public void cancelled() {
                httpStatusesAccumulator.add(-2); // -2 - cancelled
            }
        });
    }
}

Questions:

1. Should I use sync or async HTTP client in sink?

2. In case if I will use sync client it will block sink and through back pressure Flink will block source. Right?

3. In case if I will use async client it won't block sink. Right?

4. Accumulators is not thread safe? i.e. can I use it in async callback?

5. RuntimeContext is not thread safe? i.e. can I use it in async callback?